Mr. L's EB-1A (Extraordinary Ability) petition was approved, and he then attended his immigrant visa (E11) interview at the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou. For many EB-1A clients, the Guangzhou consular interview is the hardest part of the whole process — beyond paperwork, issues like disclosing Communist Party membership or a flagged medical exam result can stall the entire case if handled poorly.

Three issues needed to be resolved before the interview: how to lawfully and accurately disclose Party membership with supporting documentation; a medical exam result that could trigger additional scrutiny and needed to be assessed in advance; and the fact that Mr. L had never been through an immigrant visa interview before, a completely different process from a nonimmigrant visa interview.

We stayed engaged from the day of approval through the interview. We mapped out a compliant disclosure approach for Party membership and helped prepare the supporting explanation; we reviewed the medical exam results in advance to anticipate what additional documentation might be requested; and we coached him through the entire interview process, from organizing documents to rehearsing the interview itself.

The interview was approved. Mr. L later entered the U.S. and received his green card.